Portland DDA urges changes to development, financing plan

Wednesday

Jan 22, 2014 at 10:22 PMJan 22, 2014 at 10:22 PM

Public hearing scheduled for March 3 on proposed amendments to the Portland Downtown Development Authority Development and Tax Increment Financing Plan, ahead of possible state laws that could change how DDAs operate.

Karen Botakaren.bota@sentinel-standard.com

City council members have scheduled a public hearing on proposed amendments to the Portland Downtown Development Authority Development and Tax Increment Financing Plan, ahead of possible state laws that could change how DDAs operate.Portland City Manager Tom Dempsey told city council members at their meeting Monday night that the city and DDA have been monitoring the proposed legislation."Knowing legislation may be coming down the pike and change the way we do business, we thought it wise to look at our own plans and take a longer view at what we should be doing," Dempsey said. "We want to act on this while we know what the law is. There are timing considerations."One of the proposed amendments to the plan changes the DDA’s expiration date to 2038, ensuring its existence for another 20 years past its current expiration date of 2018."There will almost certainly be changes to the DDA law, and that will cripple us," said Portland DDA Director Patrick Reagan. "There are a lot of good things the DDA and its volunteers still need to work on. That’s why we’re extending it."However, adopting a new DDA development and tax increment finance plan triggers a requirement by Michigan Public Act 197, which established DDAs, that when more than 100 people live in the DDA district, the DDA must set up a citizen advisory committee to offer input into its plans. So another proposed amendment would remove 14 residential parcels from the current DDA district. The properties are located along East Grand River Avenue, Charlotte Highway, Divine Highway, Riverside Drive, Maple Street and Looking Glass Avenue."Public input is great, but it’s hard to get nine to 11 people out to attend meetings like this, especially when they don’t see the value in the DDA," Reagan said.Dempsey agreed that it would be "a real challenge" to get the number of residents required to serve on such an advisory board, and by the numbers, 1 in 10 adult residents in the district would be needed to serve, he said."We really felt the DDA operated such that it is open to public and citizen comments to begin with. Any citizen residing in the district is welcome to participate in DDA meetings," Dempsey said.The public hearing also is an opportunity for community members to weigh in, Reagan added.Removing parcels will have no bearing on taxes paid, and residents on the designated parcels will not see changes to their tax bills. Rather than being allocated to the DDA coffers, the estimated $6,500 in tax revenue from those parcels would be split among the library, county and the city, based on millages, Reagan said."The whole point of the DDA was to take money and improve the downtown," said Mayor Jim Barnes. "For the most part, it’s using taxes businesses pay to improve the downtown."The proposed amendments also would add a number of "brick and mortar" improvements to the DDA’s list of projects over the next 24 years, Reagan told city council members. Some of the improvements include continuing to pay off Portland City Hall (until 2016), mill-and-fill pavements projects on Grand River Avenue and Bridge Street, repairs to the Divine Highway Bridge, repainting Veterans Memorial Bridge, sidewalk extensions and maintenance, streetscape and public parking enhancement, replacement of street lights and a new community entrance feature."A lot of this is capital improvements," Reagan said. "We’ve done a number of facade projects and we’re hoping to do more."Also in the plan is snow removal in the central business district, promotional identity-building and the continuation of Portland Main Street, and maintaining the annual fireworks and holiday decorations,Total revenue available to the DDA for its projects from 2014-2038 will be about $8.3 million "and some change," Reagan said. "Setting the public hearing is the first step."The public hearing on proposed amendments to the Portland Downtown Development Authority Development and Tax Increment Financing Plan is set for 7 p.m. March 3 in the City Council Chambers at Portland City Hall. A copy of the plan and proposed amendments is available in the city clerk’s office in city hall, and at http://portlandmainstreet.org.Follow Karen Bota on Twitter @KarenB_ISS.